A letter is a hand-written, typed or printed communication which may require a response.
Structure
Model 1: giving information
Model 2: asking for information
Structure
- Sender’s address. Write the sender’s address in the top right-hand corner of the page.
- Recipient’s name, position and address. If you include the recipient’s address, write this on the left-hand side of the page. The first line should be level with the last line of the sender’s address. Use any professional title the recipient has used in previous correspondence. Otherwise, write the recipient’s full name without Mr or Ms.
Janice Farrell
The Organizing Committee
Centre for Educational Research
The Fairborn Exchange
Manchester
M13 4XL - Date. Write the date on the right-hand side of the page below the sender’s address. Do not write the name of the town or city from which the letter is sent.
17 November 2021 - Salutation. Salutations most frequently begin with Dear and end with a comma.
- When the letter is informal, follow Dear by a first name.
Dear Mark,
Dear Lucy, - When the letter is formal, follow Dear by Mr or Ms and the recipient’s family name.
Dear Mr Jones,
Dear Ms Benway,
When you do not know the recipient’s name, use the phrase Dear Sir or Madam followed by a comma. - When the letter is addressed to a group of people, follow Dear by a common noun.
Dear student,
Dear colleague, - You can follow Dear by a capitalized noun to denote the recipient’s position.
Dear Coordinator,
Dear Head of Studies,
- When the letter is informal, follow Dear by a first name.
- Body. The body of the letter should convey the information in a direct style and be paragraphed appropriately.
The following phrases may be useful in both letters and e-mails.In reply to…With reference to…I am writing to enquire about…I am writing to inform you of…I was happy to learn that…I was sorry to hear that…I would be grateful if…I would appreciate it if…I am pleased to announce that…You will be happy to learn that…I regret to inform you that…I am sorry to say that…You are advised to…You are requested to…Please do not hesitate to…Please feel free to…I look forward to…I am looking forward to… - Close. The close is a formulaic way of ending a letter. Capitalize the first word and follow the last word with a comma. Leave some extra space above and below the close.
Sincerely, [formal close] Kind regards, [informal close] - Signature line. The signature line consists of the signature followed by the sender’s printed name. If appropriate, write the sender’s position below the printed name.
Laverne Forner
Staff Week Coordinator
Model 1: giving information
Model 2: asking for information
Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics
Darrera actualització: 28-9-2022
Recommended citation:
«Letter» [en línia]. A: Llibre d’estil de la Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics. <https://www.ub.edu/llibre-estil/criteri.php?id=2605> [consulta: 2 març 2025].
